place where the Nile is divided into two large canals, through which it empties itself into the Mediterranean; the mouth on the right hand is called the Pelusian, and the other the Canopic, from the two cities in their neighbourhood, Pelusium and Canopus, now called Damietta and Rosetta. Between these two large branches, there are five others of less note. The island is the I est cultivated, the most fruitful, and the richest part of Egypt. Its chief cities, very anciently, were Heliopolis, Heracleopolis, Naucratis, Sais, Tanis, Canopus, Pelusium; and, in later times, Alexandria, Nicopolis, &c. It was in the country of Tanis that the Israelites dwelt. There was at Sais a temple dedicated to Minerva,* who is supposed to be the same as Isis, with the following inscription; I am whatever hath been, and is, and shall be; and no mortal hath drawn aside my veil. Heliopolis, that is, the city of the sun, was so called from a magnificent temple there dedicated to that planet. Herodotus, and other authors after him, relate some particulars concerning the phoenix and this temple, which, if true, would indeed be very wonderful. Of this kind of birds, if we may believe the ancients, there is never but one at a time in the world. He is brought forth in Arabia, lives five or six hundred years, and is of the size of an eagle. His head is adorned with a shining and most beautiful crest; the feathers of his neck are of a gold colour, and the rest of a purple; his tail is white intermixed with red, and his eyes sparkling like stars. When he is old, and finds his end approaching, he builds a nest with wood and aromatic spices, and then dies. Of his bones and marrow a worm is produced, out of which another phoenix is formed. His first care is to solemnize his parent's obsequies, for which purpose he makes up a ball in the shape of an egg, with abundance of perfumes of myrrh, as heavy as he can carry, which he often essays beforehand; then he makes a hole in it, where he deposits his parent's body, and closes it carefully with myrrh and other perfumes. After this he takes up the precious load on his shoulders, and flying to the altar of the sun, in the city of Heliopolis, he there burns it. Herodotus and Tacitus dispute the truth of some of the circumstances of this account, but seem to suppose it true in general. Pliny, on the contrary, in the very beginning of his account of it, insinuates plainly enough, that he looks upon the whole as fabulous; and this is the opinion of all modern authors. This ancient tradition, though grounded on an evident falsehood, hath yel introduced into almost all languages, the custom of giving the name of phoenix to whatever is singular or uncommon in its kind: Rara avis in terris,‡ says Juvenal, speaking of the difficulty of finding an accomplished woman in all respects. And Seneca observes the same of a good man.§ What is reported of swans, viz. that they never sing but in their expiring moments, and that then they warble very melodiously, is likewise grounded merely on a vulgar error; and yet it is used, not only by the poets, but also by the orators, and even the philosophers. O mutis quoque piscibus donatura cycni, si libeat, sonum, says Horace to Melpomene. Cicero compares the excellent discourse which Crassus made in the senate, a few days before his death, to the melodious singing of a dying swan. Illa tanquam cycnea fuit divini hominis vox et oratio. De Orat. l. iii. n. 6. And Socrates used to say, that good men ought to imitate swans, who perceiving by a secret instinct, and sort of divination, what advantage there is in death, die singing and with joy. Providentes quid in morte boni sit, cum cantu et voluptate moriuntur. Tusc. Qu. 1. i. n. 73. I thought this short digression might be of service to youth; and return now to my subject. *Plutar. de Isid. p. 354. Sat. vi. Strab. 1. xvii. p. 805. Herod. 1. ii. c. 73. Plin. l. x. c. 2. Tacit. Ann. 1. vi. c. 28. Vir bonus tam cito nec fieri potest, nec intelligi-tanquam phoenix, semel anno quingentesimo naaci .-Ep. 40. || Od. iii. 1. iv. It was in Heliopolis, that an ox, under the name of Mnevis, was worshipped as a god.* Cambyses, king of Persia, exercised his sacrilegious rage on this city; burning the temples, demolishing the palaces, and destroying the most precious monuments of antiquity in it. There are still to be seen some opelisks which escaped his fury; and others were brought from thence to Rome, to which city they are an ornament even at this day. Alexandria, built by Alexander the Great, from whom it had its name, vied almost in magnificence with the ancient cities in Egypt. It stands four day's journey from Cairo, and was formerly the chief mart of all the eastern trade. The merchandizet was unloaded at Portus Muris, a town on the western coast of the Red Sea; from whence it was brought upon camels to a town of Thebais, called Copht, and conveyed down the Nile to Alexandria, whither merchants resorted from all parts. It is well known, that the East-India trade has at all times enriched those who carried it on. This was the chief source of the vast treasures that Solomon amassed, and which enabled him to build the magnificent temple of Jerusalem. David, by conquering Idumæa, became master of Elath and Esiongeber,§ two towns situated on the eastern shore of the Red Sea. From these two ports, Solomon sent fleets to Ophir and Tarshish, which always brought back immense riches. This traffic, after having been enjoyed some time by the Syrians, who regained Idumæa, passed from them into the hands of the Tyrians. These got all their merchandise conveyed by the way of Rhinoculura, a sea-port town, lying between the confines of Egypt and Palestine, to Tyre, from whence they distributed them all over the western world. Hereby the Tyrians enriched themselves exceedingly, under the Persian empire, by the favour and protection of whose monarchs they had the full possession of this trade. But when the Ptolemies had made themselves masters of Egypt, they soon drew all this trade into their kingdom, by building Berenice and other ports on the western side of the Red Sea, belonging to Egypt; and fixed their chief mart at Alexandria, which thereby rose to be the city of the greatest trade in the world.** There it continued for many centuries after; and all the traffic, which the western parts of the world from that time had with Persia, India, Arabia, and the eastern coasts of Africa, was wholly carried on through the Red Sea and the mouth of the Nile, till a way was discovered, a little above two hundred years since, of sailing to these parts by the Cape of Good Hope. After this, the Portuguese for some time were masters of this trade; but now it is in a manner engrossed by the English and Dutch. This short account of the East-India trade, from Solomon's time to the present age, is extracted from Dr. Prideaux.tt The For the convenience of trade, there was built near Alexandria, in an island called Pharos, a tower which bore the same name. At the top of this tower was kept a fire, to light such ships as sailed by night near those dangerous coasts, which were full of sands and shelves; from whence all other towers designed for the same use have been called, as Pharo di Messina, &c. famous architect Sostratus built it by order of Ptolemy Philadelphus, who expended eight hundred talents upon it.§§ It was reckoned one of the seven wonders of the world. Some, through a mistake, have commended that prince, for permitting the architect to put his name in the inscription which was fixed on the tower instead of his own. It was very short and plain, according to the manner of the ancients. Sostratus Cnidius Dexiphanis F. Diis Servatoribus, pro navigantibus: i. e. Sostratus, the Cnidian, son of Dexiphanes, to the † Strab. I. xvi. P. 781. Or, Myos Hormos. || 1 Kings. ix. 26. * Strab. 1. xvii. p. 805. 2 Sam. viii. 14. THe got in one voyage 450 talents of gold, 2 Chron. viii. 18. which amounts to fourteen millions three hundred and eighty-six thousand and six hundred dollars.-Prid. Connect. vol. I. ad. ann. 740, note. **Strab. 1. xvi. p. 481. Strab. 1. xvii. p. 791. Plin. l. xxxvi. c. 12. Eight hundred thousand crowns, or almost eight hundred and eleven thousand dollars. Magno anime Ptolemæi regis, quod in ea permiserit Sostrati Cnidii architecti structuræ nomen inscribi.-Plin. †† Part I. l. i. 9. protecting deities, for the use of sea-faring people. But certainly Ptolemy must have very much undervalued that kind of immortality which princes are generally very fond of, to suffer that his name should not be so much as mentioned in the inscription of an edifice so capable of immortalizing him. What we read in Lucian concerning this matter, deprives Ptolemy of a modesty, which indeed would be very ill placed here. This author informs us that Sostratus, to engross the whole glory of that noble structure to himself, caused the inscription with his own name to be carved in the marble, which he afterwards covered with lime, and thereupon put the king's name. The lime soon mouldered away: and by that means, instead of procuring the architect the honour with which he had flattered himself, served only to discover to future ages his mean fraud and ridiculous vanity.* Riches failed not to bring into this city, as they usually do in all places, luxury and licentiousness; so that the Alexandrian voluptuousness became a proverb. In this city arts and sciences were also industriously cultivated; witness that stately edifice, surnamed the Museum, where the literati used to meet, and were maintained at the public expense: and the famous library, which was augmented considerably by Ptolemy Philadelphus, and which, by the munificence of the kings, his successors, at last contained seven hundred thousand volumes. In Cæsar's wars with the Alexandrians, part of this library, situate in the Bruchion,§ which consisted of four hundred thousand volumes, was unhappily consumed by fire. PART SECOND. OF THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE EGYPTIANS. EGYPT was ever considered by all the ancients as the most renowned school for wisdom and politics, and the source from whence most arts and sciences were derived. This kingdom bestowed its noblesɩ labours and finest arts on the improvement of mankind; and Greece was so sensible of this, that its most illustrious men, as Homer, Pythagoras, Plato, even its great legislators, Lycurgus and Solon, with many more whom it is needless to mention, travelled into Egypt to complete their studies, and draw from that fountain whatever was most rare and valuable in every kind of learning. God himself has given this kingdom a glorious testimony, When praising Moses, he says of him, that He was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.|| To give some idea of the manners and customs of Egypt, I shall confine myself principally to these particulars: its kings and government; priests and religion; soldiers and war; sciences, arts, and trades. The reader must not be surprised, if he sometimes finds, in the customs I take notice of, a kind of contradiction. This circumstance is owing, either to the difference of countries and nations which did not always follow the same usages, or to the different way of thinking of the historians whom I copy. CHAPTER 1. CONCERNING THE KINGS AND GOVERNMENT. THE Egyptians were the first people who rightly understood the rules of government. A nation so grave and serious, immediately perceived, that the true end of politics is to make life easy, and a people happy. 706. De Scribend. Hist. Acts vii 22. The kingdom was hereditary; but, according to Diodorus, the Egyptian princes conducted themselves in a different manner from what is usually seen in other monarchies, where the prince acknowledges no other rule of his actions but his own arbitrary will and pleasure.* But here, kings were under greater restraint than their subjects. They had some particular ones, digested by a former monarch, that composed part of those books which the Egyptians called sacred. Thus, every thing being settled by ancient custom, they never sought to live in a different way from their ancestors. No slave nor foreigner was admitted into the immediate service of the prince; such a post was too important to be entrusted to any persons, except those who were the most distinguished by their birth, and had received the most excellent education; to the end that, as they had the liberty of approaching the king's person day and night, he might, from men so qualified, hear nothing which was unbecoming the royal majesty; or have any sentiments instilled into him, but such as were of a noble and generous kind. For, adds Diodorus, it is very rarely seen, that kings fly out into any vicious excess unless those who approach them approve their irregularities, or serve as instruments to their passions. The kings of Egypt freely permitted, not only the quality and proportion of their eatables and liquids to be prescribed them, (a thing customary in Egypt, the inhabitants of which were all sober, and whose air inspired frugality; but even that all their hours, and almost every action, should be under the regulation of the laws. In the morning at day-break, when the head is clearest, and the thoughts most unperplexed, they read the several letters they received, to form a more just and distinct idea of the affairs which were to come under their consideration that day. As soon as they were dressed, they went to the daily sacrifice performed in the temple; where, surrounded with their whole court, and the victims placed before the altar, they assisted at the prayer pronounced aloud by the highpriest, in which he asked of the gods health and all other blessings for the king, because he governed his people with clemency and justice, and made the laws of his kingdom the rule and standard of his actions. The high-priest entered into a long detail of his royal virtues; observing that he was religious to the gods, affable to men, moderate, just, magnanimous, sincere; an enemy to falsehood, liberal, master of his passions, punishing crimes with the utmost lenity, but boundless in rewarding merit. He never spoke of the faults which kings might be guilty of, but supposed at the same time, that they never committed any, except by surprise or ignorance; and loaded with imprecations such of their ministers as gave them ill counsel, and suppressed or disguised the truth. Such were the methods of conveying instruction to their kings. It was thought that reproaches would only sour their tempers; and that the most effectual method to inspire them with virtue, would be to point out to them their duty in praises conformable to the sense of the laws, and pronounced in a solemn manner before the gods. After the prayers and sacrifice were ended, the counsels and actions of great men were read to the king out of the sacred books, in order that he might govern his dominions according to their maxims, and maintain the laws which had made his predecessors and their subjects so happy. I have already observed, that the quantity as well as quality of both eatables and liquids were prescribed by the laws to the king; his table was covered with nothing but the most common food, because eating in Egypt was designed not to please the palate, but to satisfy the cravings of nature. One would have concluded, (observes the historian,) that these rules had been laid down by some able physician, who was attentive only to the health of the prince, rather than by a legislator. The same simplicity was seen in all other things Diod. 1. i. p. 63, &c. and we read in Plutarch, of a temple in Thebes, which had one of its pillars inscribed with imprecations against that king who first introduced profusion and luxury into Egypt.* The principal duty of kings, and their most essential function, is the administering of justice to their subjects. Accordingly, the kings of Egypt cultivated more immediately this duty; convinced that on this depended not only the ease and comfort of individuals, but the happiness of the state; which would be a herd of robbers, rather than a kingdom, should the weak be unprotect ed, and the powerful enabled by their riches and influence, to commit crimes with impunity. Thirty judges were selected out of the principal cities, to form a body for dispensing justice through the whole kingdom. The prince, in filling these vacancies, chose such as were most renowned for their honesty, and put at their head him who was most distinguished for his knowledge and love of the laws, and was had in the most universal esteem. By his bounty, they had revenues assigned them, to the end that, being freed from domestic cares, they might devote their whole time to the execution of the laws. Thus, honourably maintained by the generosity of the prince, they administered gratuitously to the people, that justice to which they have a natural right, and which ought to be equally open to all; and, in some sense, to the poor more than the rich, because the latter find a support within themselves; whereas the very condition of the former exposes them more to injuries, and therefore calls louder for the protection of the laws. To guard against surprise, affairs were transacted by writing in the assemblies of these judges. That false eloquence was dreaded, which dazzles the mind, and moves the passions. Truth could not be expressed with too much plainness, as it was to have the only sway in judgments; because in that alone the rich and poor, the powerful and weak, the learned and the ignorant, were to find relief and security. The president of this senate wore a collar of gold set with precious stones, at which hung a figure represented blind, this being called the emblem of truth. When the president put this collar on, it was understood as a signal to enter upon business. He touched the party with it who was to gain his cause, and this was the form of passing sentence. The most excellent circumstance in the laws of the Egyptians, was, that every individual, from his infancy was nurtured in the strictest observance of them. A new custom in Egypt was a kind of miracle. All things there ran in the old channel; and the exactness with which little matters were adhered to, preserved those of more importance; consequently no nation ever preserved their laws and customs longer than the Egyptians. Wilful murder was punished with death, whatever might be the condition of the murdered person, whether he was free-born or otherwise. In this the humanity and equity of the Egyptians was superior to that of the Romans, who gave the master an absolute power as to life and death over his slave. The emperor Adrian, indeed, abolished this law, from an opinion, that an abuse of this nature ought to be reformed, let its antiquity or authority be ever so great. Perjury was also punished with death, because that crime attacks both the gods, whose majesty is trampled upon by invoking their name to a false oath, and men, by breaking the strongest tie of human society, viz. sincerity and honesty. The false accuser was condemned to undergo the punishment which the person accused was to suffer, had the accusation been proved. He who had neglected or refused to save a man's life when attacked, if it was in his power to assist him, was punished as rigorously as the assassin 9 but if the unfortunate person could not be succoured, the offender was at least to be impeached, and penalties were decreed for any neglect of this |